French-Canadian Jockey a Horse Racing Legend

By Juliana L’Heureux

Many horse racing enthusiasts and equestrians recognize Ron Turcotte
as easily as they recall their first grade teacher’s names. Turcotte, 59,
is a French-Canadian sports hero who rode the world renown racing giant
Secretariat to the coveted Triple Crown victory in 1973, meaning, the horse
won the Kentucky Derby, the Pimlico Preakness in Maryland and the New York
Belmont Stakes. Although world famous in his field, Turcotte boasts a traditional
French-Canadian upbringing, growing up speaking French and working alongside
his lumberjack father, in Grand Falls, New Brunswick.

When I called Turcotte at his Grand Falls home about two years ago,
he was cordial but subdued about his reputation as a legend. "I do not
think of myself as a hero," said Turcotte. "I am just an ordinary man who
was lucky enough to accomplish something," he said. Color posters of Turcotte
riding Secretariat are instant sellers at sports memorabilia auctions.
Secretariat was a phenomenal chestnut colt often called "The Horse of the
Century". With Turcotte on board, Secretariat became the first horse in
25 years to win the prestigious Triple Crown of racing.

At the height of his jockey career, Turcotte was considered the most
successful jockey in the history of horse racing.

Certainly, it is typical of French-Canadians and Franco-Americans to
refrain from boasting, but a biography about Turcotte’s life speaks directly
to his difficult but inspirational life. "The Will to Win: Ron Turcotte’s
Ride to Victory" by sports writer Bill Heller with Ron Turcotte, tells
the charming story about the jockey’s unlikely climb from a frustrated
logger in the woods of Northern Maine and New Brunswick, to a world renown
equestrian. Heller’s biography is a wonderful primer for those who might
otherwise never read about the French-Canadian culture except through horse
racing.

Turcottte’s heritage began in Quebec when his grandfather migrated east
toward Drummond just outside of Grand Falls. His father, Fred, became a
lumberjack when he was only 13 years old.

On July 22, 1941, Ron Joseph Morel Turcotte was born to Fred and Rose
Devost Turcotte. He was baptized by Monsignor Alfred Lang, who added the
name "Joseph", as was the custom for Catholic boys. Ron was one of 12 children
in the Turcottte family. The family kept very strong Roman Catholic traditions.

"We all spoke French growing up", says Turcotte. "Mom could hardly speak
English at all."

Life in New Brunswick was typical for the late 1940’s-50. Turcotte’s
family had no running water and no central heating. They shared an outhouse
and heated it with a wood stove. They slept two and three in a bed. For
food, the family kept animals for meat and poultry for eggs. The boys learned
to fish and hunt for the family food as well.

Turcotte inherited his father’s small size as a gift. Although Fred
was also small for a lumberjack and did not have much formal education
to share, he encouraged his son to be bigger than his 5 feet 4 inches and
130 pounds.

Turcotte was only 5 feet 1 inches and 128 pounds when he decided to
follow his father’s footsteps and make it in the woods as a lumberjack.
"It was awfully hard work, especially for a guy my size, but I was too
stubborn to admit defeat," he says.

Although logging seemed impossible, Turcotte’s determination to be good
at the job taught him to be a great horse jockey. Fred put him to work
with the logging horses rather than in the dangerous forest work. This
experience allowed Ron to learn about the differences in horses. Loggers
used two kinds of horses: a light animal weighing 1,200-1,500 pounds; and
another 2,000 pound full draft horse. In this logging work, Turcotte found
the smaller horses worked faster, were more versatile and quicker to turn.

After reading "The Will to Win", one imagines Turcotte as the first
French-Canadian "Horse Whisperer". He learned to communicate with horses
while working them for logging. "My father taught me to be patient with
horses," Turcotte says. "He taught me how to give horses confidence."

Eventually, Turcotte saw his future as being a dead end. "I was very
small and working in lumber as hard. I didn’t see any rich lumberjacks,
either", he recalls.

Following a set of lucky circumstances, Turcotte found himself at the
racetrack in Laurel, Maryland. In 1965, he rode Riva Ridge to a Kentucky
Derby win. He became nationally known and in 1971, Turcotte was introduced
to Secretariat.

"He was the kindest of animals, but big and clumsy," Turcottte would
recall. "He wasn’t spooky, he was calm, like a big riding pony."

Riding Secretariat to a Triple Crown victory was glory enough, but Turcotte
also rode some of the finest horses of his time, including Canada’s Northern
Dancer.

Turcotte and Secretariat were magnificent together. Lynne Wolfe, a nurse
in Brunswick, recalls watching Turcotte and Secretariat win the 1973 Maryland
Preakness at Pimlico Race Track. "It is a moment in my life I will never
forget," says Wolfe.

In 21 starts, Secretariat’s career record was 16 wins, 3-second finishes
and one third. His only race out of the money was his first start, where
he finished fourth. His earnings were $1,316, 808 (in 1973 dollars).

A challenging twist occurred in Turcotte’s life when he became disabled
after a riding accident. Later, Ron, his wife Gae and their four daughters
moved back home to Grand Falls. Sometimes he speaks French with his wife
and daughters at home, but the tradition is fading largely because the
four girls married men from English-speaking families. Turcotte admits
to speaking "just a little" French to the horses he rode.

On August 23, 1980, Turcotte was inducted into the Canadian Sports hall
of Fame at the Canadian National Exhibition Grounds in Toronto. Every year,
Turcotte is invited to be a guest of the Kentucky Derby.

Turcotte is well known in Grand Falls and in Van Buren Maine, where
he picks up his mail. Another remarkable part of Turcotte’s life is how
he went on to receive his high school diploma at Caribou High School after
he retired in Grand Falls.

Today, Turcotte is an advocate for the disabled and he participates
in charity fundraisers when possible.

"The Will to Win" would make delightful reading for young Franco-American
readers who have very little cultural literature or modern heroes to help
frame their lives. Unfortunately, the book had only one printing. About
the biography, Turcotte says he is somewhat happy with the final print
version but he would change a few things if allowed to write it over. Perhaps
Fifth House Publishers in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan could consider another
printing with pressure from renewed interest. Recently, sports reporter
Mark Beech from Sports Illustrated Magazine in New York called to
get more information about Turcotte, having read my interview printed in
the Portland Newspapers. It was fun to explain how Turcotte answers his
own phone in Grand Falls.

A copy of "The Will to Win" can be purchased as item 1001 from www.racinglegends.com
or calling 1-888-289-2709.